The use of zippers to close and fasten the openings of jackets and jeans as well as to close and secure the openings of handbags, luggage, sleeping bags, campers, tents, boat tops etc., are well known in the art. A zipper is comprised of two rows of teeth, with each row of teeth attached to separate strips of fabric tapes which are in turn sewn to the open ends of a jacket, jeans, luggage, bag or other gear, and with the two rows of the zipper teeth brought together and interlocked by a slider which travels up and down the length of the teeth.
Zippers in general are made of plastic, nylon, or metal and tend to get damaged for a variety of reasons including prolonged use or exposure to the elements. Damage to a zipper is predominantly related to wear and tear of the teeth creating misalignment of the teeth which prevents the zipper slider from traveling smoothly up and down the two rows of teeth to open or close the garment or other equipment, resulting in an inoperable zipper. Once the zipper of a garment, luggage, hand bag or other equipment is damaged, these items are rendered unusable unless the damaged zippers are replaced. Generally, the garment, luggage, bags or other equipment with damaged zippers are discarded rather than have their zippers repaired or replaced because doing so is a costly, tedious, and time consuming process.
Boat tops, covers and enclosures depend on properly functioning zippers to maintain air tight and water tight seals. Prolonged exposure of these zippers to the elements especially the sun's UV rays will over a period of time result in the zippers eventually becoming corroded and brittle with breakage of some of the teeth or the zipper slider itself falling off the zippers. The other principle reason for an inoperable zipper is when the sets of teeth get pulled apart and pop open due to shrinkage of the zipper tapes or shrinkage of the materials used for the panels attached to the tapes. This is especially the case with clear vinyl panels used for some boat covers which tend to shrink over time due to sun exposure resulting in a strain on the zippers and the pulling apart of their teeth. The resulting significant gap between the panels makes it difficult if not impossible to keep the panels snapped together on a boat top, cover, or other enclosure.
There is a need in the prior art for a device or mechanism by which damaged zippers can be repaired while they are still attached to the boat tops, covers and enclosures, or the tops, covers and enclosures on other equipment without the need to replace the worn out zippers along with the tops, covers, or enclosures which can be an expensive and cumbersome undertaking. There is also a need in the prior art for a device that can act as a spacer to an operable zipper in order to relieve the pressure on the zipper to pop open due to zipper tape material shrinkage or shrinkage of the material on the panels attached to the zipper tape. Such a device would also add back the width to the top, cover, or enclosure that may have been lost due to shrinkage of the zipper tape or panel material shrinkage. The present invention provides such a device to overcome the deficiencies in the prior art for a device and mechanism to repair damaged zippers and extend the life of operable zippers while adding width to the zippers and to the panels attached to the zippers, thereby providing the needed slack to maintain the integrity of the tops, covers, or enclosures on boats, or the tops, covers, or enclosures on other equipment exposed to the sun, water, or other elements.